Does public space create social capital?

Abstract

During recent years, the concept of social capital has become one of the most popular exports from sociological theory into everyday languages. Social capital has evolved into something of a cure-all for the maladies affecting society in all the countries around the world. The idea of social capital is particularly concerned with the cultivation of good well, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse among those that make up a social unit. Most recently, the idea of social capital has been the work of Robert (1993, 2000) who has lunched social capital as a focus for research and policy discussion. Although, scholars concentrate their efforts on the issue of social capital and its impact on societies and nations, this paper examines social capital in relation to other notable contributions from Henri (1991, 1996) who made links among urban life, social fabric, space in time, and social capital. This paper aims to figure out the issues involved in public spaces as representational spaces, and it also shed the light on the role of public spaces in creating social capital. "The city must be a place of transactions, encounters, festivities. Its spaces must not only reflect these functions; they must provide a stage upon which they can be visibly enacted." This paper utilizes content analysis methodology as an approach to analyzing ideas generated in the field of social capital and theories in urban planning.

Fostering sense of belonging at universities

“…Through their openness to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, these spaces contribute to feelings of belonging (Oldenburg, 1999, cited in Konieczny, 2019. They also have the potential to create social capital (Ijla, 2012).…”

“…Through their openness to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, these spaces contribute to feelings of belonging (Oldenburg, 1999, cited in Konieczny, 2019). They also have the potential to create social capital (Ijla, 2012). The following section concludes with a discussion on the role of universities in fostering a sense of belonging and initiatives proposed in scientific literature.…”

De la acumulación a la apropiación: una reflexión acerca del espacio público en la ciudad contemporánea

“…Muy vinculado a este, y desde una perspectiva sociológica, un tercer subgrupo de estudios pone de relieve la dimensión social del espacio público, ya sea desde el muy habermasiano prisma de discursos entrecruzados (Paquot, 2015), esto es, como confluencia de producción social, o ya sea desde su capacidad de generar capital social, es decir, como productor de socialización (Ijla, 2012). En un cuarto subgrupo, hallamos una vertiente más política, donde las personas se unen en un colectivo de acción política: el espacio público como manifestación de la expresión y el sentir ciudadano (Rouet, 2014) y como fiel reflejo de la imagen e imaginería colectiva (Wittmer, 2017).…”

“…El espacio público es un derecho cívico (Marcuse, 2014) y un modo de representar las vidas (Goffman, 1963;Ijla, 2012;Wittmer, 2017). En la arquitectura de la decepción y el urbanismo monofuncionalista que se articula por yuxtaposición a-geográfica e intercambiable de ornatos, cortoplacista y tendencioso, obsesionado por la vigilancia, la segregación, la exclusión y la simulación (Borja & Muxí, 2003;Sorkin, 2004), el espacio público es una herida mortal en el ideal de reproducción de espacios para sirvientes (Sorkin, 2004), pues representa los encuentros múltiples (Ijla, 2012) de la esfera social donde se da el debate público (Marcuse, 2014). A las nuevas manifestaciones del urbanismo como producto de masas (arquitectos superstars, trophy buildings, place marketing, etc.)…”

Understanding the containment of public spaces: upgrading public domain

“…regardless of the discourse on contemporary condition of public spaces, the concept of its privatization, main and multiple functions described by lewis mumford [10] or spiro kostof [11] in regards of historic evolution, are still valid, and briefly reported by many researchers -transportation, social cohesion, integration (socialization), safety, recreation, reinforcement of economic ties, urban ventilation and provision of green areas (green pockets as reservoirs for fauna and flora), microclimate regulators etc. [12,13].…”